by Hope
I really appreciate the BAD community’s guidance when it comes to listing my house in the best light. But I will say, I never want to have to move out of a house or sell another house as long as I live. The next home…well, it better be the one I plan to die in.
Today I close up the house, leaving it ready for my realtor to sell, and hit the road. I’ve spent hours walking these empty rooms. And doing a fair bit of talking to God and crying. I still don’t know if this is the right decision.
As excited as I am about the possibility of getting to adventure and travel for a while, this house is home. I made it exactly what I wanted. Saying good bye to it, possibly forever is hard. But I am leaving this is God’s hands. If it sells, I go. If it doesn’t, I come back and I stay.
Debt Update
Needless to say, with the rebuilding of my income and the costs of getting the house ready to sell, I’ve not paid anything to debt the last two months. However, all of my bills are paid including minimum debt payments. I have maxed out my credit cards though. Ugh!
Credit card debt $15,800.
The good news is that if the house sells. That debt will be wiped out immediately. But for now, all open credit cards are maxed out. Minimum payments paid. But there is no room left. (Ok, I take that back, I have about $800 available, but it’s for the most dire of emergencies only.)
If it Doesn’t Sell
The BAD community has been very clear that selling the house is stupid. I don’t agree. I will almost immediately be out of debt (almost completely), be free of the responsibility of maintaining a home that is just way too much for me, and have a real chance to choose what is next for me. (I still have no idea what I want that to be.)
However, there is a very real possibility that the house doesn’t sell. And I am, or am trying to be mentally prepared for that possibility. I don’t think I won’t get offers. I’ve already had a few. But I do have a firm amount I’m willing to settle for.
If I can’t pay off the debt and have a “nest” egg for what ever is next. It does not make sense. And I will see that as a sign that I am supposed to stay here and figure something out. I have kept that in mind with what I’ve done to prepare to sell by not doing anything I would want to undo should I find myself living here again.
But my 3 month term with the realtor is because of this. This process has about killed me, in many ways. And I can’t stand the limbo of what’s next much longer. So I’m giving the house sell 3 months. If it doesn’t sell, I will take it off the market and resolve to build some sort of life here. Again.
This will be my last house post until something actually happens as far it sells or I decide to move back in.
Hope is a resourceful, solutions-driven online business manager with over two decades of experience helping clients streamline operations, manage projects, and grow their businesses through digital marketing and technology.
But life has a way of rewriting your plans.
A year ago, Hope made the decision to move in with her aging parents full time – a season she wouldn’t trade, even as it came with its own financial and emotional weight. Earlier this year, she lost her mother, and is now walking the tender, disorienting path of grief while learning what “forward” looks like from here.
Hope came to the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015 as a single mom raising five foster and adoptive children. She’s written through job changes, financial setbacks, and the bittersweet transition to an empty nest. Her kids are finding their footing in the world now – and so is she.
Rooted in faith and fueled by the same perseverance she’s brought to every hard season, Hope is ready to face her finances with fresh eyes and an honest pen. She believes that clarity, courage, and community can change the trajectory of anyone’s story including her own.
She lives in Austin, TX with her dad, loves adventures with her dog Addie, and is figuring out, one step at a time, what this next chapter is meant to be.
